MARCH 2008
The big news for 2008 is the fact that this year we celebrate five years of Fashion Fringe. Also, Tom Ford having come to the end of his chairmanship, we have a new chairperson for the next two years. Tom gave us amazing support which we know will be carried on with great enthusiasm by Donatella Versace, already known for her belief in young British talent.
She said "I am very honoured to be joining the committee of Fashion Fringe as their Chairperson. This is an event which I have had great interest in since it began in 2004; London has an unbeatable reputation as the originator of unique fashion talent, and it is very exciting for me to be personally involved in discovering and supporting that talent through the Fashion Fringe initiative."
The Launch
Last Tuesday (11th March) Colin McDowell hosted a soiree in The Drawing Room at Claridge’s, where our friends and family, who included Daphne Guinness, Elizabeth Saltzman, Manolo Blahnik, Roland Mouret, Joan Burstein, Natalie Massenet, Rupert Sanderson, Erdem, Stuart Rose, Harold Tillman, Solange Azagury-Partridge and all of our sponsors, sipped Laurent Perrier and ate scrummy canapés to introduce our new chairperson.
Click here to see images
What we want
Fashion Fringe has adapted to new stimuli and demands over the past five years and has evolved as something very much more than a competition. Our original belief that finding talent is only the first step, with nurturing and sustaining it being a vital element after the event, has been strengthened by the experience we have gained to help us answer the question – what do young designers need in order, not only to survive in this very tough business but, to prosper?
And what they need is the experience and input which they can gain from knowledgeable practitioners in the various areas of fashion. For this reason, we decided last year that our four finalists should be given a mentoring month as part of their preparation for the final event from which one of them will emerge as the winner, ready to begin business.
Our Partners
We have two new partners this year. American Express and DHL have joined the CFE, L’Oréal Paris, the LDA, The Mayor’s Office, Net-A-Porter.com and the Sunday Times Style. Add a new special project with the British Council and a shoe design initiative with Rupert Sanderson and year five is clearly going to be a busy & productive one for all of us at Fashion Fringe.
Our PR
We also have a new PR team from Sputnik Communications (Kate Waddington, Alex Nelke and Clare Drummond) who are helping us to get the word out there and spread our message.
From the Fashion Fringe Team x
P.S If you know anyone who would like to receive all of our news, do let us know and we’ll put them on our list.
Further information can be found at www.fashionfringe.co.uk
